Well that’s a fabulous, low quality image if I’ve ever seen one! Tomorrow calls for a 9 miler, but let’s be honest here, that probably won’t happen. I’ve never done this particular plan before and this one jumps up to 9 much quicker than I’m used to. I’m hoping to do another 7, maybe 8, depending on how I feel and how hot it is in the morning. I’ve missed a couple 3 milers recently, but I’m not too worried about it. I’m trying to mainly focus on my long runs anyways!

Julie over at Health Nut Julie nominated me for the Liebster Award today! This is actually my second time being nominated, and I still have yet to post my Sunshine award question answers yet…working on it, promise! I’m really bad at these things…

Living With a Big Dog Means Living With a Big Mess

On Monday, we took one look at Truckee’s tummy and knew she needed to go to the vet as soon as possible. For the past week or two we’ve noticed more bumps showing up on her tummy, just like the last time she had Staph, but this time they were bigger bumps, infected looking, and just looked worse. So, off to the vet she went on Tuesday. We received two pieces of information. 1.) She has staph on her tummy again but it’s very common among Labs this time of year and 2.) She weighs a whopping 83 lbs. She turns one year old next month.

EIGHTY THREE POUNDS??!!

I. Know. She’s huge. HUGE.

We’ve been learning the hard way that living with a big dog in the house is a constant chore. A happy chore nonetheless, but a constant chore to keep the house clean and evacuate the dog hair, anyway possible. I’ve finally learned…

5 Reasons My Mom Never Let Us Keep a Big Dog in the House

5. Dogs are habitual creatures, and their habits are hard to break.

Case in point: Truckee insists that the space between my husband and I in our bed, was actually made especially for her. We’re trying hard to break the habit of letting her sleep on our bed, or even lay on our bed for that matter. Last night, we started out with her laying on the floor and my husband said, “You know as soon as we turn off the lights she’s going to jump up here and curl up in a ball and go to sleep?” I said oh no, that won’t happen, she’ll stay down on the floor. (I hate the idea of cooping her up in her kennel ALL night, and then ALL day after that, so I wanted to try and let her stretch her legs at night.) We turned the lights off, laid down, and KA-THUMP. There she was. All 83 pounds of her curled up in a ball conveniently wedged right between Adam and I. She thinks she’s so sneaky, and when I turned on the light she stretched out her legs and looked at me, as if to say, “you can sleep in the kennel tonight, mom.” Fail.

4. Big dogs have big bodies, and those big bodies have LOTS of hair.

Case in point: I don’t know if it’s because Truckee is black and her hair is more noticeable, or what, but her hair is literally everywhere. It was even on my desk at work the other day. How did that even happen?? I’ve even had hair on my toothbrush! We have a furminator that we love, but lately we’ve brushed so much hair off of her, I could clothe a small child. Where does all this hair come from?? I think we vacuum and sweep at least twice a week, and that in and of itself is enough of a pain to almost make me want to keep her outside.

3. Your collection of unmentionables will quickly dwindle.

Case in point: If our bedroom door isn’t practically locked, she will ram her head into it and let herself into the bedroom. This causes a problem when there’s a miscommunication between Adam and I over who is watching the dog. He thinks she’s up front with me, I think she’s back in the man cave with him. In reality, she’s in the bedroom devouring my unmentionables. Expensive unmentionables. I have never yelled as loud as the night I walked into the bedroom to see my favorite item from VS strewn across the floor in 1,000 pieces. She owes me. Don’t get me wrong, my parent’s small dog back home does the same thing, but he doesn’t have the jaws of life that are capable of causing such damage.

2. Big dogs create stinky messes.

In every sense of the word.

Case in point: Yesterday when we got home, we discovered she had thrown up in her kennel, on her paws, licked/ate it up, and her kennel and our bedroom stunk to the high heavens. We called her “Puke Paws” all night. Don’t worry, she’s clean now, and the aroma is out of our house, thank-goodness!

1. Big dogs are heavy, and loud sleepers.

Case in point: The other night, Truckee was in her kennel, and Adam and I were *almost* asleep, when she started to snore. Not just snore, but rumble. It shook her kennel. It rattled her kennel door. It rattled the windows. And it didn’t stop. She continued to snore, even with me yelling at her half asleep. I thought about getting my phone and recording it just so you could hear Grandma Truckee’s noises. Maybe next time.

So, my mom was always right. Keeping a big dog in the house is a major undertaking.

But, we still love this face:

Have a great weekend!!

Next week I’ve got reviews coming up for a cool, safety app for runners, and some super cute headbands that benefit childhood cancer!

Do you have a monster sized pup you let stay inside?Do you have a long run planned for tomorrow?

Sarah is the main writer behind Sweet Miles, a lifestyle blog based out of Texas that focuses on fitness, parenting, and everyday life. She's a full time working mom, with a passion for balancing it all.

The bill watterson cartoon was fantastic, truly loved it.
I saw the dinosaur prank the other day and cried so hard I had tears, just awesome.
How could you not love that dog face, come on “awww”.
I have a run today, 1st run since Monday, so could be awesome, or terrible, we’ll see.Matilda recently posted…Whole30 Success

Sweet Miles

She looks like 83 lbs of pure love! I LOVE big dogs. We used to have one that was a former drug dog used at airports. He was the sweetest dog I’ve ever met! They find a way into your heart and family and never leave! 🙂Katherine recently posted…Going to the Chapel.

Haha, it’s a good thing Truckee is cute!! We bought a big puffy pillow bed for our pooch and she loves it, though she’s not allowed upstairs where all the beds are so I’ve nvr had that issue. Good luck! 😀Kelsey @ Blonder Side of Life@ recently posted…Fitness Friday

Sweet Miles

September 4, 2013 at 9:57 am

Kelsey- Ha so. true. She’s a little ridiculous! She’s been sleeping on our bed lately and seriously takes up the WHOLE bed. My husband and I have to fight over what’s left of the sheets, haha. So spoiled, so spoiled 🙂

Sweet Miles

We just got home from a week in Maine, and I swear our 10-year-old Vizsla shed an entire mini-Mac in the house. As I was vacuuming up the hardwoods, I couldn’t believe the amount of hair. And then I had to wash his blanket, and I swear there was another dog’s worth of hair in the lint trap. Mac has also eaten his fair share of unmentionables too, but my best story is when I was visiting a colleague and friend in Toronto, and her big, lovable dog ate the liner out of my running shorts! It was hilarious!

Sweet Miles

Welcome to Sweet Miles! I'm a full time working mom of one, with one on the way. This blog chronicles my everyday life as I try to balance all the things. I'm passionate about fitness, and maintaining a positive outlook on parenting. Follow along! Motherhood may be messy, but it sure is sweet.